For many decades, Sabine Weiss has created a complex lifework. The photographer is associated with the so-called “école humaniste” with Robert Doisneau, Willy Ronis, Édouard Boubat, Brassaï or Izis the most well-known representatives of this photographic genre, who, with their “photographie humaniste”, have directed their interest on the everyday life of their contemporaries, especially in the streets of Paris and its suburbs. Through the refined sensitivity of the photographer the pictures put forward the small things in life. Without doubt the now 93-year-old is the Grande Dame of Humanistic Photography but at the same time she can still be considered a discovery in Germany.
At the moment, Galerie Hilaneh von Kories, in Berlin, presents selected works. At first glance the photographs seem unspectacular but their value come from the direct view on everyday life, work and leisure of the persons portrayed. Just as important as the persons in the center are the surroundings of the scene, so that besides many street motifs you can often see cafés or pubs, which are popular locations showing socializing and informality.
The selection presented by the gallery includes pictures taken in Paris and on trips to European countries and the United States. Besides street scenes you can see sensitively staged portraits of well-known artists and pictures of children, who Weiss loved to shoot while the played in the streets. Her deep interest in capturing the interplay of light and shadow can be seen in magnificently composed pictures of train and subways stations. The focus of the selection on the 1950s and 1960s.
Sabine Weiss
October 07, 2017 to January 26, 2018
Galerie Hilaneh von Kories
Belziger Straße 35
10823 Berlin
Germany
www.galeriehilanehvonkories.de